The Number #1 Arts Marketing Blog In The World

December 2014

December 30, 2014

The great thing about blogging is that it creates a platform where you can think outloud about things. After over 1,000 posts on the arts, marketing and related issues I can say that this blog has been invaluable to me and has provided some value to others.

The downside of blogging is that it, like social media, is a temporary thing. A blog post is here and then it is gone. That's one of the reasons I wrote a little ebook on arts marketing. The goal was to create something a bit more permanent. This particular blog post is another attempt at create something that has some staying power.

I want to talk about tension and arts marketing.

There is, and always will be, tension between the words art and marketing. Art is unpredictable. It is personal. 100 people can experience an artistic event and have a wide range of responses.

By contrast, what most people want from marketing is an outcome that is stable and consistent. They want to be able to create Art Product X, spend Amount Y to market it and end up with Financial Outcome Z. That isn't an unreasonable thought but it stands in conflict to what Art is. That's the tension. And that tension never goes away and it shouldn't go away.

So the fundamental question every artist or arts organization has is this: How do you plan on dealing with the tension? The mistake a lot of people make is pretending that there is no tension. They pretend that X+Y=Z is a solid and sustainable idea. They pretend that you can sell art like it's salty snacks and soda. Just roll out a set of marketing tactics and all will be fine. That's fiction.

Ultimately what I've been talking about on this blog for many years is how to recognize and deal with that tension. The path I suggest is overcoming the tension by reframing it. Instead of just selling artistic programming, I advocate connecting people to your story, your values and the reasons behind your work . . . not just the work itself.

What do I mean by that? Let's use a popular example, Disney. Disney has products. A ton of products. Toys. Movies. Video Games. Theme Parks. When you think about Disney, however, you don't just think about the products. You think about that Disney "magic". The family friendly nature of the brand. Disney means something above and beyond what they create. The real goal of marketing is to create that other feeling . . . that other meaning.

This is typically the point where someone says that Disney, or any other example I use, doesn't have a positive story. They may say that, to them, Disney represents being overly commercial or shameless pandering to children. That's fine. The point is that Disney represents something positive and specific to a certain number of people. The bigger point is that none of this is an accident.

Disney decided to be family focused.

Apple decided to be a design orientated company.

Amazon has decided to be about a wide range of products and ever shorter delivery windows.

So every artists or organization has two important decisions to make. The first is the decision about what to produce, create, put on stage, etc.

The second decision is about the larger story that you want to put out into the world.

When people connect to the story they will come see the art.

Just something to think about as we go into the new year. See you in 2015

December 16, 2014

According to this article from the Wall Street Journal, NFL QB Andrew Luck is a brillant marketer.

Of course he wouldn't say that, but it's true. The article talks about how when Luck is sacked by an opposing player he doesn't do what people would do, i.e. complain how hard he was hit or just deal with his pain in silence.

Instead he goes out the way to compliment the player that just hit him.

In the article they talk with several players who hit Luck, some of them did it years ago.

All of them remember their interaction with Luck.

What is marketing? It's about making an impression, telling a story, being remarkable.

The people who hit Luck are famous, successful athletes who encounter things daily yet they remember him.

The good news is that this path, this road to remarkable marketing, is available to all of us. It starts with a willingness to say or do something unexpected that connects with an audience.

Here's an example. A little while back we wrote this article about how we plan and execute an artistic season. We decided to write the article because we know what everyone, including us, typically says about artistic programming.

We talk about how memorable it is and how people must go, etc.

It's a necessary step, but it's expected, thus not that memorable.

So, we wanted to put a little twist on the topic. Sure, we would say how great the season is . . . . but we would also say something else.

The writer of the article talked about how we had certain plans for the season, but they fell apart. She talked about performers taking opportunities at other places, that sort of thing.

The goal of the article wasn't to sell people on a season. It was to educate them and help them understand why we make the choices.

Because if you understand the choices, then maybe you'll buy the season.

December 02, 2014

A few weeks ago, I spent an afternoon with a group of fantastic writers and we had a conversation about personal marketing. I talked about the need to have, and tell, a story that is bigger then any individual artistic outcome.

I think this is so important because art is inherently upredictable.

You can't make people like your play, novel, dance performance or movie. Let's be honest, you can't even control the emotions your art brings up in others.

So my core position is that you can't control how a person feels about the art, but you can tell them a story that helps them understand you a little better, gives context to the work, etc.

Like any good group, the writers I was working with had some questions. The biggest question revolved around how much of a "personal story" an artist should feel comfortable sharing. All of us have a natural and understandable desire to keep some things about ourselves and our work private, so where does marketing fit into all of that?

Here's the answer I gave them.

The story you tell is your own choice and it can include as much or as little of yourself as you feel comfortable. On one side of the spectrum you have people like musician Amanda Palmer who have built on a career on a very transparent, very vulnerable narrative.

On the other side you have actors like say, Tom Hanks, who avoid the spotlight but have built a career on making interesting acting choices. Those choices are essentially Tom's "marketing".

My point here is that you can make a lot of different choices and still have great marketing. My other point is that you shouldn't do anything that makes you uncomfortable.

So if being on social media makes you uncomfortable, don't do it.

And if the idea of "selling yourself" makes you feel weird, don't do it.

But here's the catch . . .

You also need to be able to explain to yourself exactly WHY those things make you uncomfortable.

So if you hate "selling yourself" that's fine. But you need to be honest about why. Is it because you don't want the rejection? If you hold on to that feeling will it be a barrier to your career goals?

You have to know your comfort limits to be a great, authentic, marketer. But you also have to willing to explore and question your limits.